Teaching Yourself to Teach Yourself - Jake A Carlson MBA/JD

Timothy Lupfer entered West Point at the age of 17 in 1968, and four years later he graduated first in his class. In the Army, he served in various combat-ready units in the US and Germany, and he attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1990 and 1991 he commanded a tank battalion (over 700 soldiers and 58 M1A1 Abrams tanks) in combat in Desert Storm. After retiring from the army in 1992, he entered business, first as an executive at R.H. Macy and Company, then became a management consultant and ultimately retired as a Managing Director in Deloitte Consulting in 2011. Tim now spends his time speaking, writing, and chasing his grandchildren.

Top Takeaways: Teaching Yourself to Teach Yourself with Timothy Lupfer

High school is the most formative and important time of our lives
Service academies are more a marathon than a sprint- a experience in endurance
Cooperate and graduate
32 Rhodes Scholars from the US every year
It taught me to teach myself. That was the most important skill I got out of it
It was an honor to take command of a tank battalion during Desert Storm
The work life, whether in business or battle is reality
What would you do if every person in your organization was armed?
Part of my concern was to keep everybody healthy and safe
The responsibility is constantly there
The responsibility you feel never lets up
You don’t know when something big is going to happen
You do things very methodically, you follow instructions
The vast majority of what we do is not life or death
Character counts and character doesn’t change when the situation becomes more dire
We try to influence people all the time, influence is not leadership, it can be a part of it
3 things leaders do: 1) Leaders give direction
3 things leaders do: 2) Leaders demonstrate capabilities
3 things leaders do: 3) Leaders embody character
You have to have the ability to give direction and demonstrate ability
Character is an embedded quality